LinkedIn is a unique platform unlike many other social medias, and finding out how to tailor it to showcase your skills and expertise can be hard. Since there is always a way to improve your profile, check out these four simple starting points to make your LinkedIn profile stand out in a crowd.
- Update your profile picture
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It’s time to get rid of the selfie that you chose as your profile picture when you first created your profile. Aim for something that was taken by someone else, has a solid-colored background, and has good lighting. For some positions, it’s also appropriate to choose a photo of you working in your field. Potential connections and employers should be able to see your professionalism as soon as they take a look at your photo.
- Add a header photo
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Replace the plain default header at the top of your profile with something that stands out. Not sure what to add as your header? Here are a few options:
– Use a header provided by the company you work for to showcase where you work
– Use a photo of the skyline or landscape of the city you live in to showcase where you are looking to work
– Create your own header using Photoshop or other programs that allow you to showcase your personality and skills. (This one is great for someone looking for a job in graphic design, marketing, etc.)
- Create a custom LinkedIn URL
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LinkedIn allows you to choose the URL that connects users to your profile. Many professionals recommend that you include your first and last name in the URL to make it easy for connections and employers to find you, but the world is your oyster when it comes to this step. A benefit of doing this is that it will make your LinkedIn URL look sleek on your resume.
Want to try? HERE is a link to the LinkedIn help page regarding the topic.
- Add a summary of your experience
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Do you want to showcase your experience, expertise, and passions? Then add a short summary in the “About” section of your profile to do just that. A good starting point for this section is to write a sentence or two for each of the following:
– Your current position and your experience in that position.
– The field of work that you are most experienced in / are looking to work in.
– A description of skills that you have (adobe cloud, receptionist duties, HTML Code, etc.) You can refer to your endorsement section if you have it set up to get inspiration for this step.
There are so many options when it comes to updating your LinkedIn profile, but these four are guaranteed to get you started on making your profile stand out!